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Grades for GCSE on the Higher tier papers are set by examiners at A, C and D by looking at the work of candidates and using statistical evidence. Once that has been done, the boundaries for grade B are set to be midway between A and C. A* is then calculated arithmetically so that the boundary for grade A falls midway between those for A* and B.

The percentages of students gaining each grade is thus set for A to E, but the QCA Code of Practice allows us to adjust the overall A* boundary in the light of statistical evidence to maintain standards over time. The examiners decided that a boundary of 179 would not have given a consistent percentage of A* grades this year, so it was adjusted to 176 to allow 4.8% of A* grades (in line with the figure for last summer).

Is the bottom table supposed to be the sum of the figures for those grades/tier from the top table? If not, where do the figures in the lower table come from? If they are then why don't they add up right?

As a point of interest are there ever any figures published that show what percentage of pupils sitting the foundation exam actually managed to get a C grade. I know we are told the overall figures receiving a C grade but I would like to see the figures broken down into those coming from a foundation exam and those from a higher exam.

No - this is completely different. I found the Examiner's Report (on the good ol' Emporium!) - the final paragraph reads:

The percentages of students gaining each grade is thus set for A to E, but the QCA Code of Practice allows us to adjust the overall A* boundary in the light of statistical evidence to maintain standards over time. The examiners decided that a boundary of 179 would not have given a consistent percentage of A* grades this year, so it was adjusted to 176 to allow 4.8% of A* grades (in line with the figure for last summer).

Everyone clear about that? Good!

So - if grades rise ... then they rise. If they would have fallen ... then they are "inconsistent", so they are adjusted to be "in line with previous years".

As a point of interest are there ever any figures published that show what percentage of pupils sitting the foundation exam actually managed to get a C grade. I know we are told the overall figures receiving a C grade but I would like to see the figures broken down into those coming from a foundation exam and those from a higher exam.

Edexcel used to publish these - I found them for Summer 2005 on the Emporium. But that was for the old 3-tier exam (still fondly remembered and sadly missed. Sniff.).

Edexcel no longer appear to produce these ... unless they are accessible via ResultsPlus (or whatever it's called)? Is it possible to download these as a comparison for your own pupils?

The A* boundary jiggle has happened for the last three sittings of the Linear exam and happened back in the past too so is nothing new.

Hold on. So the fictitious, made-up, fabricated A* boundary this time was created to bring it into line with the results from the previous year ... which were created by using a similarly fictitious grade boundary based on the results from the year before that ... which were also made up?

DM, what I'm really interested in seeing what effect the C grade in the foundation exam has really had. I believe the students have to get at least 85% to gain a C grade, which I would have thought was very difficult for most students sitting the foundation papers. As this is a significant overlap area between the two exam types statistics about the percentage C grades from each exam would be very useful.

Our results were 75.1% A*-C in Maths overall. 36.9% achieved Grade C of these 93.75% were at Foundation and 6.25% at Higher, all the remaining Higher students achieved A*-B. All of the students who looked weak at the Trial and who didn't need or weren't targeted above a C were changed to Foundation tier. I know there is a big debate over this but it has worked for us this year as our results are 10.3% upon last year and 5.1% over the target set by the LT. The 76.5% required to get a C at Foundation doesn't seem to have lost us (m) any passes at C.